WEBVTT [CAPTIONING PERFORMED BY THE NATIONAL CAPTIONING INSTITUTE, WHICH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS CAPTION CONTENT AND ACCURACY. VISIT NCICAP.ORG] SOLEDAD: HILLARY CLINTON'S SOLID LEAD, IS PRETTY MUCH GONE. THE LATEST POLLING AVERAGE FROM REAL CLEAR POLITICS DOES HAVE HER AHEAD.BY INSIDE THE MARGIN OF ERROR. SO WHAT HAPPENED? CLINTON'S OPPONENT, DONALD TRUMP, HAS MANAGED TO OFFEND SOME KEY CONSTITUENCIES IN THE COURSE OF HIS CAMPAIGN. LATINO VOTERS. FEMALE VOTERS. AFRICAN-AMERICAN VOTERS. BUT WHY AREN'T THOSE GROUPS SURGING TO CLINTON'S SIDE? WE'RE JOINED BY DOUG THORNELL, SENIOR ADVISER TO THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE. NICE TO HAVE YOU WITH US. ARE YOU WORRIED? >> WHEN YOU'RE ON A CAMPAIGN, YOU'RE ALWAYS LOOKING AT DIFFERENT SCENARIOS. BUT WE KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO BE A CLOSE RACE. YOU ARE A COUPLE OF THINGS YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT. THE PATHWAY EACH CANDIDATE HAS. SECRETARY CLINTON HAS A BETTER PATHWAY TO REACH 270 ELECTORAL BOATS -- VOTES. IF YOU START WITH A 16 STATES GOING HER WAY, FIVE OTHERS GIVE HER A 70% OR 80% CHANCE OF WINNING. IT PUSHES THAT NUMBER TO 260. THERE ARE SEVEN REMAINING BATTLEGROUND STATES WITH DONALD TRUMP THAT WILL HE WOULD HAVE TO WIN SIX OUT OF SEVEN. WE ARE TAKING ANYTHING FOR GRANTED. THAT HAS SHIFTED BACK, HE BROUGHT BACK THE BIRTHER LIE. SOLEDAD: AND I WILL ASK YOU TO TALK ABOUT YOUR CANDIDATE. LET'S TALK ABOUT THE POLLS. IF YOU LOOK AT THE ENTHUSIASM NUMBER, IT IS PROBLEMATIC. BY THE TIME YOU GET TO THE SOMEWHAT ENTHUSIASTIC, NOT TOO MUCH AND NOT AT ALL, MOST PEOPLE ARE NO ENTHUSIASTIC. >> WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO MOTIVATE AND EXCITE FOLKS. THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED NEW ADS TARGETING HISPANIC AMERICANS AND AFRICAN AMERICANS. WE ARE VERY FOCUSED ON THE GROUND. BOTH THE DNC AND HFA HAVE VERY STRONG AND ROBUST GROUND CAMPAIGNS. SOLEDAD: ARE DEMOCRATS CAPITULATING BACK TO THE REPUBLICANS? >> ABSOLUTELY NOT. SECRETARY CLINTON HAS A PLAN THAT SHOULD BE APPEALING FOR ALL VOTERS. SOLEDAD: SHE HAS 29% OF WHITE WORKING-CLASS VOTERS OVERALL TO DONALD TRUMP'S 57%. SHE SHOULD BE HIGH IN THIS GROUP AND WOMEN, THAT'S 34%. >> FOR WHITE WORKING-CLASS WOMEN? SECRETARY CLINTON KNOWS THAT SHE'S DOING EXTREMELY WELL. DONALD TRUMP IS PULLING BELOW MITT ROMNEY WITH HISPANIC AMERICANS. TO YOUR FIRST POINT, IT'S IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT THE ECONOMIC REPOSES ON THE TABLE. SHE IS MAKING SURE BILLIONAIRES -- MAKING SURE THAT STUDENTS ARE NOT SETTLED WITH COLLEGE DEBT. SOLEDAD: ARE THEY BEING TAKEN FOR GRANTED BY THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY? >> THERE ARE THINGS THAT WE PASS THAT ARE EXTREMELY POPULAR FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR. THERE IS MORE WORK TO BE DONE IN THE NEXT 47 DAYS. BUT WE ARE EXCITED. THE STAKES ARE EXTREMELY HIGH FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND HISPANICS. SOLEDAD: YOU ARE OUTSPENDING FIVE TO ONE AND I FULLY RECOGNIZE HE GETS A LOT OF FREE TV TIME THAT HILLARY CLINTON DOESN'T GET. THE POLL NUMBERS AS WE STARTED, THEY ARE VERY TIGHT WITHIN THE MARGIN OF ERROR. >> I WOULD GO TO THE ARGUMENT OF PATHWAYS TO VICTORY. IF YOU LOOK AT SECRETARY CLINTON AND WHERE DEMOCRATS ARE IN PATHWAYS TO ELECTORAL VOTES, WE LOOK -- WE FEEL PRETTY GOOD ABOUT THAT. FOLKS ARE GOING TO DECIDE AT SECRETARY CLINTON IS THE PERSON THAT HAS THE CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENT. THIS RACE IS GOING TO BE CLOSE.

Lack of Voter Enthusiasm Could Spell Trouble for Clinton

Share

Shares

Copy Link

{copyShortcut} to copy
Link copied!

Updated: 7:20 PM EDT Sep 23, 2016

Washington, DC —

Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers may have her only slightly ahead of Donald Trump, but her numbers are still within the margin of error. Some note the smaller lead could be the result of a lack of enthusiasm from key Democratic voting blocs.

“This week Clinton made a big pitch to millennials that actually started last week. She rolled out an initiative to Americans with disabilities, the Clinton campaign launched new ads targeting Hispanic Americans and African Americans,” Thornell said. “We're encouraging people to register to vote. National voter registration day is on Tuesday. You have to have turnout mechanism.”

Clinton is also having difficulty appealing to white, non-college graduate voters, who support Trump 57 percent to her 29 percent. Even among women in this group, only 34 percent support Clinton to Trump’s 51 percent. Thornell insists that the campaign isn’t giving up on this group.

“I think Clinton has a plan that should be appealing to all voters but certainly white working class voters,” Thornell says. “I think it is important to look at the two economic proposals on the table. Clinton believes in raising wages, making sure billionaires like Trump pay their share, she believes in investing in infrastructure, making sure students are not saddled with debt.”

According to a recent CNN/ORC poll, 46 percent of the nation says they are “very” or “extremely” enthusiastic about this election cycle. Even among Democrats, 57 percent report that they are less enthusiastic about this election than they have been in previous years, compared to 48 percent of Republicans who are more enthusiastic than in previous years.

Thornell says he isn’t worried.

“In 2012, we had to deal with what was considered an enthusiasm gap among supporters of Obama and Romney and it turned around and it was part of a really good ground game that the democrats put together. And we are looking at it again and we're seeing Clinton focus on millennial voters, Hispanic voters, African Americans voters, that's why the DNC is doing the same.”